I applied to 57 scholarships and didn’t get one… mostly because my parents EFC is SUPER high. I am about to have a breakdown because my family refuses to pay more than 1/4th of my education, so I have to cover the 3/4ths myself. I own my own business and have tried to make money as best I could while still maintaining good grades, but I’m struggling. How can I support myself and pay tuition? My current bill is 18,565.58 and I am considering the worst. What can I do???
What state do you live in?
@timetodecide I live in Nevada. I was under the impression that my parents would subsidize half or more but they just informed me they would not. I have enrolled at University of Missouri and paid a TON of non-refundable fees to enroll and set up my classes at whatnot. I’m in a really tough position because the local colleges are all not accepting enrollment this late.
What about the community colleges?
So you just paid deposits with no commitment from parents? Gap year or cc or spring enrollment.
Can you talk to a mental health professional? Can you tell your parents you are ‘considering the worst’?
I think all those scholarship apps exhausted you, they would anybody. Contact the Univ of Missouri admissions and tell them your predicament, and let them know you really want to attend. Ask if you can defer entry till spring or even a year, sometimes they are accommodating of such a request. Perhaps in that window they would hold your fees and you could knock out some classes at a cc or make some more money. Either way, this experience falls into the “everything happens for a reason” category of life, you just don’t know what the reason is yet, but you have to wait and see what it is. Something great will come from this pickle you find yourself in, it always does eventually! It is impressive that you have your own business and if you can do that, you can work through this, but if it gets to be too overwhelming please talk to somebody about it. My parent’s marriage fell apart my first year away at college and I had to figure out how to pay for the next three years. What a mess at the time, but it all worked out, and I owe the great success that I had later to working through that difficult time. You will get there. 
I think her parents are retired that’s why they can’t help much. I take a gap year if I were you.
Is that current bill for fall semester only? You say that $18k+ is your “current bill,” so that sounds like the bill for only the Fall Semester.
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Class rank: 73 of 731 (Top 10%) Unweighted GPA: 3.658 Weighted GPA: 3.958 AP courses: AP Literature and Composition, AP Psychology (taking these senior year so they haven't had an effect on my weighted GPA yet) SAT scores: 1840 (reading: 670, math: 520, writing: 650) <<<
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I’m not sure why you thought that your parents would be paying for half. In another thread, you mention that their income is far less than Syracuse, which means that their income is far under about $65k. I don’t know of many/any folks who have incomes far under that who can somehow pay for half of an OOS public university.
I’m not even sure if you could have afforded Mizzou if your parents had paid half. Where would you get your half? How much do you earn each year?
What is your EFC? Why is your EFC “super high” if your parents’ income is modest? Do they have a lot in savings?
You want to be a journalist, by you failed your first “test,” and that is to “get the facts”. You assumed that your family would pay half, and likely, you didn’t realize that even if you won some of those scholarships, many were likely for only one year. You also paid a “ton” of nonrefundable fees for Mizzou without getting clear info from your parents. Take this as a learning experience. Don’t let excitement get in the way of finding out the facts. I know that the facts may be unpleasant, so sometimes we prefer to forge ahead, but as you can see now, doing so just leads to greater disappointment later.
There’s no point in delaying enrollment for a year because you won’t be able to afford it next year. You can take a gap year and apply to your instate schools. Do you qualify for any merit at any of them? Don’t take any classes at a CC otherwise you’ll lose your “incoming frosh” status.
Does your state provide any awards for instate students with good stats? What awards would you qualify for if you went to UNLV or UNR next year?
Your other posts indicate that you don’t even like Mizzou except for its journalism school.
I don’t know what you mean by “considering the worst.” If you’re suicidal, then please call the suicide hotline. If you’re just being dramatic because you’re upset, please don’t talk like that.
Not being able to afford Mizzou is a temporary disappointment. It’s sad that last year you didn’t post more in the forums that parents frequent because we would have stressed that you get a clear answer from your parents about finances back then. I’ve seen your app list…a bunch of schools that would have been unaffordable.
I hope that rising seniors and juniors read your post and realize that they need to have the money issues figured out before they make their app lists. We often see posts that say, “applying for a ton of scholarships,” and these kids don’t realize that they likely won’t win much or any of them. And, the awards are usually for one year only, so they won’t pay for four years of college.
i know that you’re very disappointed. You spent a lot of time on these scholarships and visiting colleges. You have to find what will work within your money constraints.
What are your parents saying? Do they want you to go to college? If so, how do they expect it to happen?
@kidacat Try not to take it personally that people on CC have a tendency to be rather blunt – and I expect you posted in a panic, looking for comfort, as many do. Around here people are so obsessed that it’s hard to imagine kids and parents didn’t have any discussion of finances, and we’re missing a lot of info from you.
Even though it seems as if the world is crashing down, it will work out, one way or another. It won’t be the path you originally imagined, but it almost never is.
Take a gap year and reassess your options. Come back for some school recommendations.
Yes, plan a gap year and start now finding out a new list.
Are you a boy or a girl? I’m not sure from your past posts.
Get a clear figure from your parents as to how much they’ll pay.
Since OOS Mizzou is about $35k-40k, I’m guessing that the $18k due now is for one semester. If so, then it sounds like your parents will pay about $10k per year. If so, that’s about half of an instate public, so perhaps that’s what their intent was from the beginning.
Find out NOW if there’s anything you need to do to secure your eligibility for Nevada’s merit aid. I can’t remember the details, but I think they do offer some sort of merit for students with certain stats. However, since you’ve already graduated, you may need to see if there’s anything you need to do NOW to maintain eligibility.
You want to major in journalism. Find out which school, UNR or UNLV has a better program. Have you visited either school?
What is your family’s EFC? And why is it high if their income isn’t high?
And do make a new thread for your new search. Include important details so that you’ll get helpful info…2015 high school grad, major, stats, EFC, how much parents will pay, etc.
BTW…how much do you earn? How much will you be able to earn WHILE in college (busy with college stuff, likely working on college newspaper, etc)
(Note to younger students reading this: don’t use smoke and mirrors with your parents about how college costs will get paid. Many parents don’t know how it all works and they can easily be misled by words like: “I’m applying to a lot of scholarships,” or “I’m going to pay half,” or “I’ve won awards, so I’ll get money from schools” or “this school gives lots of aid,” or whatever else you can think up to throw at your parents to make them think that they don’t have to look at finances when schools are being applied to. Have your parents run the NPCs and SEE what those results are.)
57 locations ? Really??? You could have used some of that apication money to fund your studies at a community college. To be honest, I can’t believe your HS guidance office processed that number of applications.
I don’t think it’s application to college, that’s too much. It scholarship applications, not college applications.
Yes, it was private scholarship applications. The amount of time spent filling them all out must have been crazy, particularly since many/most/all were likely for frosh year only.
This student had no safety.
I know that when kids have a talent, in this case a writing talent, there is a pressure to attend “a ranked school known for this,” but in reality, most people can’t just go to one of the top ranked schools for their intended career. Yet, these people still go on to college, do well, and find success.
Oh I see! He didn’t get any of the 57 scholarships! Sorry for that misunderstanding on my part.
To the OP…the best scholarships come from the colleges themselves.
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Around here people are so obsessed that it’s hard to imagine kids and parents didn’t have any discussion of finances,
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I can imagine that parents and kids wouldn’t have a discussion if there’s been little mention about going to college other than maybe a parent-assumption that the kid will be going to go to the local public or flagship.
However, this student actually went on college tours at these OOS schools. You’d think that that would have triggered a “how is this going to get paid for,” discussion.
I might not know that my kid was surfing the Ferrari websites, but if he went OOS on a car-buying trip, I’d sure ask those questions.
@mom2collegekids You have NO IDEA what I’m like as a journalist. I was TOLD by my parents that they would pay for it, but recently went back on what they were saying and told me they couldn’t actually do it. My parents DO make a lot of money, but because they are retired they do not feel comfortable shelling out a ton of money for my school. I was not told this and that’s why I committed to Mizzou. I make about 600-800 dollars a month with my business (more in buying seasons like Christmas.)
And thank you SO MUCH @CADREAMIN sometimes people on this site can be very cruel. I’ve seen parents being openly horrible and mean about their kids and it just kills me. Thank you for your kindness
Thank you also, everyone, for your advice. I set up my bank accounts and looked at my assets and I’m pretty sure that I can subsidize the first year on my own. I will get a job during the school year (or multiple during the summer) and try to make sure that I’m setting myself up okay. I am looking into my other options (the apps are closed at most of the schools in my state so I’m looking into CC as a backup) Also, when I said I meant the worst, I meant taking out a student loan (which would have a variable interest rate of like 12%, basically the worst). I didn’t think it would be taken that way and I’m sorry. Thanks for all your help!
Also, I originally did not like Mizzou because it was such a big change from my plans. When I visited it was a terrible trip (the man on the plane puked every 5 minutes for 3 hours straight) so it was a hard trip from start to finish. When I went to summer orientation, I fell in love. I LOVE Mizzou and I want to cry every time I think about NOT going to Mizzou. I am trying to be fiscally responsible though and I am doing thorough research to ensure that I am making the right decision.